a) Field of the Invention This invention relates to a novel polycarbodiimide compound, a production process thereof, a resin composition, and a treatment method of an article.
b) Description of the Related Art
A variety of resinous treatments have conventionally been used for the resin finishing or color finishing of fibrous articles such as threads, yarns, strands, woven fabrics, nonwoven fabrics, and paper sheets. Further, diverse resin compositions have also been used to coat, resin-finish, surface-coat or print metal articles such as iron articles and aluminum articles, synthetic resin articles such as polyethylene, polypropylene polyvinyl chloride, ABS, polyester and nylon articles, plastic films such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and polyester films, and wooden articles.
For example, a resin-base pigmented printing paste for a woven fabric contains a colorant, a polymeric binder and a crosslinking agent for the polymeric binder. Conventional usable examples of the polymeric binder include acrylate, vinyl and diene polymers containing reactive groups. They may be used in the form of aqueous emulsion polymerization mixtures. As such crosslinking agent, compounds containing one or more methylol, alkylmethylol, epoxy, isocyanate or cyclic ethylene-imine groups have been used to date. Similar polymeric binders and crosslinking agents have also been used in paints for metal articles, synthetic resin articles and wooden articles as well as gravure printing inks for plastic films.
In the fields of woven fabrics, paints, printing inks and the like, however, it is required, depending on the application, to effect crosslinking at a low temperature to room temperature without heating a resin at a high temperature upon crosslinking the same. It is also required from the hygienic standpoint that a resin composition for use in such fields be sufficiently non-toxic and safe.
To meet such requirements, carbodiimide compounds are attracting interests as crosslinking agents for polymeric binders. Recently, compounds with plural carbodiimido groups contained therein have been found to be useful as crosslinking agents for polymeric binders and also to have high levels of non-toxicity and safety. For example, it has been proposed to use as a crosslinking agent for a polymeric binder a linear carbodiimide compound available by reacting a carbodiimido-containing diisocyanate compound, which is in turn obtainable by condensation of plural molecules of a corresponding diisocyanate compound, with a monoisocyanate compound, a monohydric alcohol compound or a dihydric alcohol compound.
These carbodiimide compounds are highly valued in non-toxicity and safety over the conventional crosslinking agents and, when crosslinking is conducted at high temperatures, give satisfactory results. They are however accompanied by a drawback that, when crosslinking is conducted at low temperatures to room temperature, they cannot bring about satisfactory results in the dry/wet fastness to rubbing, the fastness to laundering, and the like especially when applied to woven fabrics of synthetic fibers. When used in paints, coating formulations, printing inks and the like, they cannot bring about satisfactory results either insofar as crosslinking is conducted at low temperatures to room temperature.